Age Categories – Page 87 – Disability Day of Mourning

Shirley Williamson

Portrait photo of Shirley Williamson, a middle-aged woman with pale skin and curly, shoulder-length auburn hair. Name: Shirley Williamson.
Died: August 26, 2017.
Age at death: 65.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Powell, Wyoming, USA.
Disability: Blind; mental illness.

Details:
Shirley Williamson was shot by her husband because her mental illness had been getting worse.

Her son reported that she had recently told him, “If I die, it will be someone else who did it.”

Case status:
David Williamson (Husband), charged with second-degree murder; pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, sentenced to 18-20 years.

Source:
Powell man serving time for killings asks for shorter sentence
Details Emerge in Powell Homicide
Williamson’s bond set at $700,000
Powell man charged in wife’s murder
Powell man arrested on suspicion of murdering wife
Bond set at $700,000 for Powell man charged with wife’s murder
Powell man charged with murder after allegedly telling 911 operator ‘wife is dead, send the cops’
Authorities: Husband says he killed wife over mental issues
For killing wife, Powell man receives 18- to 20-year sentence
Powell man gets 18-20 for killing wife

Rookiya

No Photo Name: Rookiya.
Died: August 25, 2017.
Age at death: 5 months.
Cause of death: Drowning.
Location: Amruthanagar, Andhra, India.
Disability: Hydrocephalus.

Details:
Rookiya’s mother had no money for big-city medical treatment, and Rookiya’s neighbors had started referring to her as a “demon child” because of her large head. When her father came home to find Rookiya drowned in the washtub, police arrested and questioned her mother, who, they say, confessed to killing her daughter.

Authorities noted that the area has a district hospital and four children’s homes that are meant to help children like Rookiya.

Case status:
Shaik Fatima (Mother), charged with murder.

Source:
Too poor to afford her medical care, Andhra mother kills her own baby girl

Margaret Sims

Name: Margaret Rose Sims.
Died: August 20, 2017.
Age at death: 70.
Cause of death: Strangled.
Location: Stanford-le-Hope, England, UK.
Disability: Alzheimer’s disease.

Details:
Margaret was strangled by her daughter.

Case status:
Keeley Barnard (Daughter), convicted of murder, sentenced to 18 years to life.

Source:
Daughter allegedly strangled mother, 70, to death
Daughter’s ‘rage’ behind mother murder
A Chelmsford woman has denied murdering her own mum
Woman appears at Crown Court after elderly woman “strangled”
Inquest opens into death of Margaret Sims, of Clacton, as murder probe continues
Daughter accused of mum’s murder tells court ‘I did not strangle her, I massaged her throat to revive her’
Daughter who strangled own mother jailed

Hui Yee Tang

Photo of a young Asian woman with short black hair, wearing a yellow shirt and a lanyard around her neck. Name: Hui Yee Tang.
Died: August 20, 2017.
Age at death: 27.
Cause of death: Stab injury.
Location: Pasir Ris Street, Singapore.
Disability: Autism, intellectual disability.

Details:
Ms. Tang lived with her father, mother, and two siblings. She liked to play with water, and would stand under the shower for hours at a time. Neighbors remember her as “a pleasant, quiet girl”. She was enrolled in a program at the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS).

Ms. Tang’s father stabbed her to death before committing suicide. He was “worried about her future”.

case status:
Soh Ha Tang (Father), deceased.

Source:
Pasir Ris double deaths: ‘Depressed’ father was worried about future of autistic daughter
Father fatally stabbed intellectually disabled daughter, jumped to his death: Coroner’s inquiry
Pasir Ris double deaths: Man who killed daughter had history of mental problems
Pasir Ris deaths: In life as in death, father and daughter were inseparable
Pasir Ris double deaths: Neighbours describe father and daughter as ‘loving’

Vivian Nelson

Name: Vivian Nelson.
Died: August 13, 2017.
Age at death: 94.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas, USA.
Disability: Dementia; frail elder.

Details:
Vivian’s son took her home from the nursing home where she lived. He made her a cup of coffee, then shot her in the head.

Case status:
Leslie Charles Nelson (Son), convicted of murder, sentenced to 15 years.

Source:
Texas Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Killing Mother
CCPD: Woman, 94, found shot dead in wheelchair; son arrested
Medical examiner identifies Corpus Christi woman allegedly killed by son
Vivian Nelson Obituary
Medical examiners release name of elderly woman shot in the head
Trial set for man accused of killing wheelchair-bound mother
Leslie Nelson convicted of murder in elderly mother’s death

Leah Cohen

Name: Leah Cohen.
Died: August 11, 2017.
Age at death: 66.
Cause of death: Stabbed.
Location: London, England, UK.
Disability: Unspecified physical and mental disability; walked with a cane.

Details:
Leah Cohen and her daughter Hannah were stabbed to death by her son. Apparently, he was upset that he had been left out of his father’s will.

Leah and her family own Beigel Bake, their family business, a London bakery famous for its salt-beef bagels. Hannah and her sister ran a cake shop, which closed when Hannah was killed; Leah’s other two sons now run the bagel shop.

Case status:
Joshua Cohen (Son), pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility; received an indefinite hospital order.

Source:
Joshua Cohen, who killed his mother and sister, admits manslaughter
Brick Lane bagel tycoon’s son ‘murdered mother and sister at home’
Man charged in North London bagel dynasty murders
Golders Green murder – son, 27, charged with murder after his bagel millionaire mum and sister are stabbed to death’ in their North London home
Heir to famous London bagel shop ‘arrested over knife murder of mother and sister’
Bagel murder suspect had been cut out of family fortune weeks before killings, documents show
Tributes paid to mother and daughter ‘stabbed by schizophrenic son’
Son arrested after allegedly stabbing mum, 66, and daughter, 33, to death in North London

Ann Marie Boardman

No Photo Name: Ann Marie Lawlor Boardman.
Died: August 10, 2017.
Age at death: 70.
Cause of death: Sepsis.
Location: Bellows Falls, Vermont, USA.
Disability: Stroke; mobility impaired.

Details:
Ann Marie’s daughter neglected her; she died from infected bedsores for which her daughter made no attempt to seek medical care.

She worked many jobs over her lifetime, including being co-owner of a laundromat and ice cream shop.

Case status:
Nancy Boardman (Daughter), pleaded guilty to neglect of a vulnerable adult resulting in serious bodily injury; given an 8-year suspended sentence.

Source:
Obituary for Ann Marie (Lawlor) Boardman
Woman pleads guilty to neglect, abuse charge in mother’s death

Donita Elliott

Name: Donita Elliott.
Died: August 8, 2017.
Age at death: 47.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Disability: Bipolar disorder.

Details:
Donita was shot by her husband, who claimed he had done it in self-defense because she had bipolar disorder and was coming at him with a knife. Later on, a recording on his cell phone recording proved that he had shot her, refused to help as he watched her die, and planted the knife himself.

She was a devout Presbyterian and avid cook who loved cats and kittens.

Case status:
Patrick Elliott (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to 54-75 years.

Source:
Elliott sentenced to 75 years for killing his wife
Husband guilty of murder for killing his mentally ill wife
Patrick Elliott in letter to church: ‘My choice included her death’
Donita Marie Elliott: Obituary
Ind. Man Allegedly Recorded Himself Shooting Wife and Watching Her Die as She Begged for Help
Police called to victim’s house hours before fatal fight
Husband shot wife and watched her die, police said
Husband Claims Self-Defense In Murder Of His Wife
Suspect recorded killing of his wife on his cellphone, sheriff says

Ursula Cabalzar

Name: Ursula Cabalzar.
Died: August 8, 2017.
Age at death: 68.
Cause of death: Gunshot.
Location: Santa Clara, California, USA.
Disability: Killer believed she had dementia.

Details:
Ursula’s husband believed she was in the early stages of dementia, so instead of going to a doctor, he shot her dead and then killed himself.

Case status:
Michael Reyer (Husband), deceased.

Source:
Ursula Cabalzar, age 68
Police Investigate 2 Deaths in Santa Clara as Murder-Suicide
PRESS RELEASE – Murder / Suicidea
Santa Clara murder-suicide: Mental decline cited as motive for killing

5-year-old girl

No Photo Name Unknown.
Died: August 6, 2017.
Age at death: 5.
Cause of death: Fatal abuse.
Location: Jahra, Kuwait.
Disability: Special needs.

Details:
For two months, this five-year-old girl was beaten and burned by her mother and her mother’s boyfriend because they “wanted to get rid of her” and resented her for the attention she needed. She died from a particularly vicious beating, and only then did her mother finally call the police, claiming that her daughter had fallen from a window.

Case status:
Mother and mother’s boyfriend, both convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

Source:
Boyfriend, woman hearing adjourned in disabled girl’s killing
Woman, boyfriend sentenced to death in disabled girl’s murder
Mother, boyfriend sentenced to death for killing special-needs daughter
Kuwaiti mother sentenced to death for murdering her disabled daughter
Kuwaiti mother and boyfriend kill 5-year-old daughter, get death sentence
Kuwait Sentences Mother, Boyfriend to Death for Killing Daughter with Special Needs
Five year old girl murdered by mother and her boyfriend